WMware VMplayer 2.5.2

[vtpup]

It Works!

Well, one stumbling block -- the script went fine, to completion.

But starting up VMWare Player itself errored out, saying that it failed to stop its own process while setting up modules.

Looking at the log, I found that it was looking for the file vmware in /etc/rc.d, and not finding it.

I did a search and found it in /etc/init.d.

Wasn't sure what to do, so tried making a symlink in /etc/rc.d pointing to vmware in /etc/init.d

This worked, and the installation process went to completion, and the standard VMWare Player screen opened up when I clicked on the Menu entry.

I'm not sure if I did the right thing by making the symlink -- please let me know, if it wasn't, or there is a better alternative.

I'm currently loading one of my Win98SE virtual machines onto the laptop, and will try to run it as soon as it's done (takes awhile becausethe file is 2 gigs, and this laptop has USB 1.1 -- using an external drive for the transfer.

I think it will work fine. Will let you know. Thanks to all for making this possible, and for the hand-holding.

[Aitch]

Wolfpup/vtpup

It would sure be useful if you could do this VMplayer.sfs for the 2.6.25.16 kernel

I'm afraid it's beyond me

Aitch

[vtpup]

Well Aitch, being new to Puppy, I'm not sure how to make an .sfs, but I will try to learn. If anyone else wants to give it a go, however, be my guest...

[jcoder24]

The following code will create a packaged of the newly compiled drivers named vmware-modules-kernelversion.pet eg vmware-modules-2.6.25.16.pet.

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#!/bin/sh 

SOURCE_DIR="/usr/lib/vmware/modules/source" 
VMMOD_DIR="/lib/modules/`uname -r`/misc" 

PKG_DIR="vmware-modules-`uname -r`"
MOD_DIR="$PKG_DIR$VMMOD_DIR"

mkdir -p $MOD_DIR
cd $MOD_DIR

for x in `ls /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/*.tar | sed 's/.*\///; s/.tar//'`
do 
	cp -vp $VMMOD_DIR/$x.o . 2>/dev/null
	[ -f $VMMOD_DIR/$x.o ] && ln -s $x.o $x.ko
done 
cd "$OLDPWD"
dir2pet $PKG_DIR

[vtpup]

Thanks Jcoder that's really amazing of you to do.

I did run the script, made up a 16x16 bit xpm icon, found the executable and gave it to the script, did all the menu stuff. I accepted all defaults with an ENTER, including the dependencies question. The module successfully built.

To test, I removed the VMWare .sfs from bootmanager, located the new .pet, loaded it. It was successfully installed according to the PetGet manager.

Then I re-booted. The VMWare Player entry was located in the menu. I clicked on it, but the VMWare Player program didn't start, or crashed silently.

EDIT:

I've been trying to see what went wrong. Here are some of the things I've found after trying to create the .pet a couple times more:

The .pet is only about 96K long -- this seems way too small. Doing a pfind for the executable vmplayer turns up nothing. It should have been in /usr/bin -- at least that's where it is in the .sfs installed VMWare Player.

FYI. During the .pet creation dialog it asks for the location of the executable, and I have been using /usr/bin/vmplayer as the answer.

I have not listed any dependencies since I don't know of any. The .pet creation dialog suggests looking in /root/.packages/packages.txt for a list of dependencies, but there is nothing in there for VMWare Player. I looked through that file while the VMWare .sfs. was installed and running.

I don't know how to go any farther with this. Help would be appreciated. Thanks!

2nd EDIT:

Maybe I am not understanding the intended function of the new .pet. I assumed it was the VMWare Player program for kernel 2.6.25.16 in .pet form.

But if it is something else (drivers only were mentioned, I now notice) and not the complete program, then some explanation of how it is to be used would be appreciated.

[Aitch]

I have read* that VMTools make everything run faster

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VMwar ... 8vmware%29

sorry, *buntu groan

there's an open source version, here

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfile ... _id=204462

Else, the originals are on VMWorkstation

Aitch

[Aitch]

Just found

run your LiveCD in VMWare howto

http://www.vmwarez.com/2006/02/livecd-p ... chine.html

I found myself going back to playing with LiveCDs because I could boot into a pre-configured environment. One that looks just like the developer wanted it to look (provided you have all the right and supported hardware). The best way to do this would be if every developer realized the power of virtualization and made a VM for their project. But since they don't all do that and some still take the time to do a LiveCD, I've now gone to booting LiveCDs within virtual machines.

Some useful tips in the comments below the story

I can't find a VM image for Puppy except this; Puppy Linux 2.16.1 with BigAl 2.4.0 installed [Big number cruncher]

http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/955

Is there a Puppy.vmx that's NOT on the VMWare site??

What happened to mayakovski's v1.06, has no-one updated it?

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=5222

HAHA, answered my own question, here it is:

Puppy v4 in a VM 'howto'

http://www.lowtek.ca/roo/2008/puppy-lin ... re-player/

Thanks to whoever posted this excellent 'howto' - check his other tips, too

DIY Solid State Drive, The Optimal eBay Experience, & Turbo Slug [Linksys NSLU2 NAS speed tweak] are quite good reads IMHO


Aitch

[jcoder24]

The new script is for packaging up the drivers/modules so you can easily reinstall it later (or share with others after reviewing the vmware player license).

The pet created is to be used in conjunction with the sfs. When creating the pet answer no to Step 1, enter a description for Step 2 and you just hit enter to accept the defaults for everything else.

[vtpup]

Okay, jcoder, I think the problem was simply not understanding what you were trying to do with the script. I thought it was for making a full VMWare Player install .pet.

So, it probably worked properly the first time I tried it.

Anyway, to test it out again, I ran the script, entered the replies as you outlined.

To test, I uninstalled my present VMWare Player, rebooted, reinstalled the VMWare sfs, rebooted, started the new vmplayer, got the usual error messages about kernel headers, then installed the new pet, and tried again to run VMWare Player, and the program started up correctly.

So it did work.

[vtpup]

I've been running VMPlayer in Puppy 4.1.2 (2.6.25.16 kernel) perfectly for a month with the help of Jcoder in this thread.

I've had to go back to the older kernel (2.6.21.7) in Puppy 4.1.2. retro, because of difficulties with DVD drives. Unfortunately I have been unable to get the original vmware_vmplayer-2.5.0_k2.6.21.7.sfs of this thread to work properly.

This is on a clean frugal install of 4.1.2 retro. I have devx412 and the 4.1.2retro kernel source installed already, and when I click on VMplayer in the utilities menu, I get the Vmware user agreement popping up, and then the VMPlayer Front screen for opening a virtual machine. However, whenever I try to open a machine I get the following error message:

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Could not open /dev/vmmon: No such file or directory.
Please make sure that the kernel module `vmmon' is loaded.

If I click OK for that I get:

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Failed to initialize monitor device.

Clicking OK I get:

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Error while powering on: Cannot find a valid peer process to connect to.

Any help would be appreciated.

Edit:
I just tried running Jcoder's script for compiling and installing modules on the first page of this thread, and then typing in the terminal

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modprobe vmmon

I then tried opening VMplayer, and it started to run and I was able to open a virtual machine.

I've looked in the Puppy Bootmanager and found the vmmon module. Now my question is should this be forced to load on boot using bootmanager?

It also looks like there are other modules in bootmanager belonging to vmware, as a guess:
vmci
vmblock
vmnet

Are these actually vmware modules, and should they also be forced to boot with BootManager?

Thanks!

Edit #2:

The answers are, yes those other modules are part of Vmware, and no, you don't have to add anything to BootManager to get them to start.

They didn't start at first, because they needed to be rebuilt. Rebuilding them with Jcoder's script made them bootable, but they required either modprobing to get started, or a reboot for this to occur automatically.

I imagine Jcoders later script for creating a .pet of the drivers/modules will also work with this 4.1.2-retro version as well. So it should be easier to get started next time I install a 4.1.2 retro system.


Thanks Jcoder!




.

[DanYHKim]

I described sort of how I made this file in the discussion on How to Install VMware Player

While I should probably just read the FAQ or something, I'll bring it up here: Where do I send this file so people can get at it?

[Aitch]

Hi Dan

Thanks for your efforts

For a quick & temporary upload use something like Rapidshare

For a longer term maybe contact caneri, to see if he can let you have upload space on /tpp at puppylinux.ca

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/profil ... ile&u=7712

Aitch

[DanYHKim]

Sorry. the .SFS I made is for player 2.0.5, not 2.5.0

Not dyslexic, just inattentive

I uploaded the file on my Diino account in a publicly-accessible folder

http://danyhkim.diinoweb.com/files/_OpenFiles/

It's 23.4 Mb

I'd love to know how it turns out, if you give it a try.

[DanYHKim]

I uploaded the file on my Diino account in a publicly-accessible folder

http://danyhkim.diinoweb.com/files/_OpenFiles/

vmplayer251-pup412.sfs (46.7 Mb)
VMwarePlayer251.txt

The text file describes what I did.

To use this .sfs in a "frugal" setup, you will need to load

devx_412.sfs
kernel-src-2.6.25.15-patched-puppy4.1.sfs
vmplayer251-pup412.sfs

Run VMware Player with the command

/usr/bin/vmplayer

It will attempt to stop its processes and compile modules. This worked OK for me, and I didn't have problems of "unable to stop . . . ".

Afterwards, VMware Player will run and offer the EULA, then it works.
You can unload the development tools and kernel source
The text file also describes how to edit the .desktop file so it points to the icon file. Then you can run "/usr/sbin/fixmenus" and reload JWM so the menu item has an icon.

If you use this, please comment on this thread, so I know if it really works.

[robermann79]

Hi all,
I'm getting puzzled, not being able to install a working version of vmware.

I have:
- puppy 4.00
- kernel 2.6.21.7

I downloaded:
- devx_400.sfs
- kernel-src-2.6.21.7-patched-puppy4.1retro.sfs [not found any other .sfs suitable for Dingo]
- vmware_vmplayer-2.5.0_k2.6.21.7.sfs

Then, I configured the boot manager with automatically loading devx_400.sfs , kernel-src-2.6.21.7-patched-puppy4.1retro.sfs and vmware_vmplayer-2.5.0_k2.6.21.7.sfs.

After these steps and rebooting, when I ran vmplayer I got "Could not open /dev/vmmon: No such file or directory. " error, so I guess I'm supposed to run jcoder24's script on comment #3, right?

So, when running that script I get an error on "vmppuser" module:

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In file included from /usr/src/linux/include/asm/thread_info.h:16,
                 from /usr/src/linux/include/linux/thread_info.h:21,
                 from /usr/src/linux/include/linux/preempt.h:9,
                 from /usr/src/linux/include/linux/spinlock.h:49,
                 from /usr/src/linux/include/linux/module.h:9,
                 from ppdev.c:47,
                 from ppuser-stub.c:18:
/usr/src/linux/include/asm/processor.h: In function 'cpuid_count':
/usr/src/linux/include/asm/processor.h:611: warning: pointer targets in passing argument 1 of 'native_cpuid' differ in signedness
/usr/src/linux/include/asm/processor.h:611: warning: pointer targets in passing argument 2 of 'native_cpuid' differ in signedness
/usr/src/linux/include/asm/processor.h:611: warning: pointer targets in passing argument 3 of 'native_cpuid' differ in signedness
/usr/src/linux/include/asm/processor.h:611: warning: pointer targets in passing argument 4 of 'native_cpuid' differ in signedness
In file included from ppuser-stub.c:18:
ppdev.c: In function 'pp_read':
ppdev.c:126: warning: comparison of distinct pointer types lacks a cast
ppdev.c:131: warning: comparison of distinct pointer types lacks a cast
ppdev.c:155: error: 'struct task_struct' has no member named 'need_resched'
ppdev.c: In function 'pp_write':
ppdev.c:180: warning: comparison of distinct pointer types lacks a cast
ppdev.c:185: warning: comparison of distinct pointer types lacks a cast
ppdev.c:208: error: 'struct task_struct' has no member named 'need_resched'
ppdev.c: In function 'register_device':
ppdev.c:242: warning: implicit declaration of function 'parport_enumerate'
ppdev.c:242: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
ppdev.c:245: error: 'struct parport' has no member named 'next'
ppdev.c:255: warning: passing argument 5 of 'parport_register_device' from incompatible pointer type
ppdev.c: In function 'pp_open':
ppdev.c:610: error: 'MOD_INC_USE_COUNT' undeclared (first use in this function)
ppdev.c:610: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
ppdev.c:610: error: for each function it appears in.)
ppdev.c: In function 'pp_release':
ppdev.c:636: error: 'MOD_DEC_USE_COUNT' undeclared (first use in this function)
ppdev.c: At top level:
ppdev.c:653: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
ppdev.c:654: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
ppdev.c:655: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
ppdev.c:657: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
ppdev.c:658: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
ppdev.c:660: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
ppdev.c:663: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
make: *** [ppuser-stub.o] Error 1

However, the others (vmblock.o, vmci.o, vmmon.o, vmnet.o, vsock.o) compiled successfully.

When I try:

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modprobe vmmon

I get the following warning, from /var/log/messages:

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Mar 14 15:16:01 (none) user.warn kernel: vmmon: disagrees about version of symbol struct_module

The module is not loaded.

What am I missing? Is it possible to run vmware 2.5 on puppy 4.0?

By the way, why vmware_vmplayer-2.5.0_k2.6.21.7.sfs does not contains precompiled modules for that 2.6.21.7 kernel?

Thank you and sorry for this boring message

[robermann79]

mmm I've tried to download and install VMware-Player-2.5.1-126130.i386.bundle. The /dev/vmmon device still is not created automatically by vmmon module.

Finally I resolved all this stuff with the help of http://bugs.gentoo.org/147524:

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mknod  /dev/vmmon c 10 165

Now I'm able to run virtual machines.

In conclusion, maybe it would suffice to load at boot vmware_vmplayer-2.5.0_k2.6.21.7.sfs and manually create the device - at least on my Puppy 4.0! Just wondering why on 4.1.2 retro (so the same kernel as 4.0) people is not supposed to create it... Any idea?

[robermann79]

mmm I've tried to download and install VMware-Player-2.5.1-126130.i386.bundle.

Just some notes about that; in order to run it I downloaded
- kernel sources from http://puppylinux.asia/sources/BarryKau ... 1.7-dingo/
- devx_400.sfs

The sources where manually linked into /usr/src/linux and /lib/module/2.6.21.7/build.

The first unexpected error spring out running "cpp": cc1 was not on PATH, while gcc was working. So:
export PATH=$PATH:/initrd/pup_ro3/usr/libexec/gcc/i486-t2-linux-gnu/4.2.2/

Second problem: VMware-Player-2.5.1-126130.i386.bundle needs a different version of /usr/bin/od, so I replaced puppy4.00's one with 4.1.2's one.

After that, the installer completed without problems. As said, the last manual step was to run "mknod /dev/vmmon c 10 165" and reboot.

[Wolf Pup]

vmware_player updated to 2.5.2 for kernel 2.6.21.7 and 2.6.25.16

[saphir92]

any VMware player package for puppy 511 ?

[saphir92]

anyone one to help me ???